Health and safety is a performance issue

Health and safety must be thought of as a performance issue by businesses,
not simply one of regulation and compliance, delegates at a conference
organised by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents heard last
month.

The RoSPA congress, held in Glasgow in association with Scottishpower,
examined how Scottish business and organisations could be made safer places in
which to work.

Last year 36 people in Scotland died in work-related accidents and more than
2,700 suffered major injuries.

The conference also looked specifically at how health and safety could be
improved in the construction industry, NHS, forestry sector and call centres.

Other topics included reducing slips, trips and falls and back injuries, preventing
at-work road accidents and managing asbestos in buildings.

Roger Bibbings, RoSPA occupational safety adviser, said directors needed to
take a greater lead in setting corporate health and safety targets and tracking
their progress.

"Health and safety must be a boardroom issue, but the whole workforce
has to be involved. Challenging targets have to be set and we need to focus on
priority issues and sectors," he said.

The conference also saw the launch of a forum called Scottish Health and
Safety Revitalisers, designed to co-ordinate and exchange information on health
and safety between bodies such as RoSPA, the Institution of Occupational Safety
and Health, the Scottish TUC and the Scottish Chamber of Safety.